Have You Considered This?

This past week we celebrated Christmas.  I imagine that most, if not all, have some concept of what is the true meaning of Christmas.  But have we really stopped to consider the truth of the matter?  Every year it seems our senses to its wonder dull just a little bit more.  The decorations, the sales, the TV specials grow all too familiar packing an already full life.  We enjoy the houses all lit up and when we see a manger scene here and there, we mentally assent to its place in the celebration.  Perhaps, the aura of Christmas as we recall it and would like it to be has been diminished because we have forgotten the wonder of the very first Christmas. 

Just for a moment consider this brief scriptural testimony to a small but significant aspect of that historical event some 2,000 years ago.  “But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife:  for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.  And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:20-21).

Have you considered that Mary was with child though she was a virgin?  She was pregnant though she knew not a man.  To our understanding this is stupefying.  We cannot explain it from our limited human comprehension.  Yes, there are such things as in vitro fertilization in today’s medical world, but in Bethlehem there was no such thing.  She became pregnant without any human intervention – a miracle if ever there was one!

Have you considered that her child was the eternal God incarnated, i.e. made in human flesh?  Her baby was no ordinary child for the Scripture said “that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.” Isaiah had foretold hundreds of years earlier “Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us” (Isaiah 7:14).  Let that resonate in your mind and heart – God with us.  God, the Creator, took on human flesh and was born of a virgin.

This leads me to the greatest question, i.e. have you considered why He did this?  The passage above reminds us that Joseph would call “his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins.”  This God humbled Himself to take on human flesh that He might be as one of us.  “Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil” (Hebrews 2:14).  Jesus came to die in our place for our sins that He, as Matthew records, might “save his people from their sins.”

“But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons” (Galatians 4:4).  Consider this…

The Self-Existent One

“Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God” (Psalm 90:2).  What an incomprehensible thought, i.e. “from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God!”  God has always been and always will be.  We struggle to get our head around that concept, but we just cannot fully grasp it.  We cannot comprehend something with no beginning.  We ourselves had a beginning; the earth had a beginning; but God had no beginning.  He always existed – and will continue to do so.

Moses, who wrote Psalm 90, was introduced to this truth when God met him in the wilderness while he was tending his sheep in the desert.  After God commissioned him to deliver the children of Israel out of Egypt, Moses asked God “when I say unto them, the God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say unto me, what is his name?  What shall I say unto them?  God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM:  Thus thou shalt say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you” (Exodus 3:13-14).  In essence, God told Moses that the self-existent One sent him to them.

Unlike us, God depends on nothing for his existence.  We depend on air, food, light, water, etc.  God needs none of these.  He exists independent from everything else.  No surprise there – the Creator exists prior to and independent from His creation.  His self-existence is an attribute of his deity.  That is why in that same Psalm above, Moses concludes “thou art God.”

Jesus Christ, the Son of God, claimed for himself this same self-existence.  When the Pharisees challenged his testimony concerning himself, they declared they were of Abraham’s seed, but knew not his origin.  After a lengthy discourse with them, he confronted them with this conclusion, “Before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58).  The Jews, knowing the significance of his declaration, took up stones to stone him.

God’s unique self-existence makes him worthy of our praise.  There is none like unto him.  He stands apart from all time and circumstance and, consequently, there are no boundaries or limitations upon him.  And so he declares to Jeremiah, “I am the LORD, the God of all flesh:  is there anything too hard for me?” (Jeremiah 32:27).  His name, Jehovah, translated here as “LORD” means the self-existent One.  We can be confident that our God can do anything to meet the need of his children.  What a comfort and hope that though I am bound by my circumstances and the limitations of my own flesh, there is nothing too hard for God, my Savior.  Is he not worthy of our praise?

A Sure Rest

Nothing stokes the fires of covetousness and discontent like holiday advertising! I really didn’t know how unfulfilled my life was until that television commercial roused my dissatisfaction. How quickly sixty seconds can paint needs that did not exist previously! Is this unsatisfied itch for things not true in every one of our lives to one degree or another? Yes, it is so. But how can we escape? After all, we live in a society where the god of materialism reigns. How can I not bow at its altar? The key lies in recognizing and laying hold of the source of true and lasting satisfaction – Jesus Christ.    

Our quest for things is a quest born of unfulfilled desire. We long for something, yet we know not what. We find momentary pleasure and satisfaction in the acquisition of material things. Yet this satisfaction is fleeting. It is a pursuit marked by futility. Jesus said “Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth” (Luke 12:15).  Since that is true, in what then does man’s life consist?

Christ goes on in his teaching about “things” to answer that question. He says “Seek ye the kingdom of God…for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Luke 12:31, 34). The point is lasting satisfaction cannot be found in what this world offers. We must look to the next world! Paul wrote to the believers in Colossae, “Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth” (Colossians 3:2). More specifically we must set our affection on Christ himself who is the center of all things above. Bridging these two spheres of activity, the Psalmist wrote, “Whom have I in heaven but thee? And there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee” (Psalm 73:25).

In order to set my affection on things above, Christ, the coming King, must rule in my heart now on earth. His word must fill my mind shaping my thoughts and directing my steps. His loves must become my loves and, yes, his hates must become my hates. Our lives are then lived in his presence as to an audience of one.

To know Christ is to love Christ. To love Christ is to be satisfied with him and him alone, both now and always. As a believer, we can only be satisfied with Christ when we choose to be. Oftentimes, the cares of this world (Mark 4:19) eclipse our vision of him. We struggle to be content with things that were never designed to bring contentment. Augustine of Hippo said “Thou hast made us for thyself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds rest in thee.” So very true! Tell me, friend, where do you look for rest?

God is For Me!

We read in the Scriptures that Jesus Christ “is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only, but for the sins of the whole world” (I John 2:2).  Propitiation is a theological term that describes God’s response to the sacrifice of his Son on our behalf.  It is the only word among those that describe our salvation that is actually directed toward God.  The believer is forgiven, reconciled, justified, sanctified, glorified, but it is God and God alone that is propitiated. 

Propitiation answers the just wrath of an all holy God against the sin of his creation.  Our sin, both yours and mine, demands death and eternal separation from this holy Creator.  Yet, in the eternal plan of God the Father, Christ the Son suffered that death in the sinner’s place and his blood has been offered up in full payment for that sin.  God has looked upon that blood and declared it sufficient.  That is, every claim that a righteous law could make against a violating sinner has been satisfied – payment in full.  And God is propitiated!

Because God is propitiated, he is free to forgive the repentant sinner on the merits of Christ’s sacrifice.  It is here at the cross where the righteousness of the law and the mercy of God meet.  With the sin question settled, God is now for me and as Paul wrote to the believers at Rome, “If God be for us, who can be against us” (Romans 8:31)?  What an awesome thought, i.e. God is for me!  I am no longer his enemy because of my sin and the object of his just wrath.  Rather, God is for me! Truly, who then can be against me? 

To be forgiven is the greatest evidence of commitment that can be known.  Consequently, those who have been forgiven know this promise, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5).  There are many enemies and circumstances that will oppose the child of God in this world not to mention our own failures that beset us.  But God is for us and he will not abandon his child.  Believe it; live in its light; do not doubt it no matter the darkness.  As one old preacher wisely said, “God and you make a majority!”

Perhaps, you’re reading this and do not know the blessing of sins forgiven.  As the Scriptures have declared and I have shared here, Christ is the “propitiation …for the sins of the whole world.”  That propitiation includes your sins.  Believe in Christ and know that your sin debt has been satisfied. 

The House of Mourning

We read in the Scriptures, “And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” (Genesis 2:15-17). We all know how that turned out. Adam sinned and death has been every man’s (and woman’s) final appointment since that time. In fact, the author of Hebrews calls it just that, i.e. an appointment. He writes “it is appointed unto man once to die, but after this the judgement” (Hebrews 9:27).

Death is inevitable and yet few of us actually give it the consideration that it merits. Solomon, the Preacher of Ecclesiastes, shared this admonition. “It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart” (Ecclesiastes 7:2). Death is all around us. We all come into close contact with it sooner or later. Solomon urges us to use the opportunity to “lay it to…heart.”

There is profit in reflecting on that encounter. That is why he tells us “it is better to go to the house of mourning.” We are to use the occasion to reflect on the solemnity of the event. Paradoxically, there is an element of both finality and eternality bound in death’s arrival. It is the final event in one’s life while at the same time it ushers its guests through the door of eternity. We shall all find ourselves standing at the door eventually. Because death is irresistibly certain each of us would do well to heed Solomon’s advice and give earnest consideration to that appointment.

Daniel Webster, a 19th century American lawyer and statesman made this pointed observation. “The most important thought that ever occupied my mind is that of my individual responsibility to God.” He clearly understood the implications of “after this the judgement.” This life is brief and just as our appointment with death is inescapable, so is that judgement. None shall escape that. Paul wrote to the believers in Rome, “So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God” (Romans 14:12; emphasis added).

We would all do well to let our hearts be stirred unto earnest contemplation by the house of mourning. Death is a cruel master, but there is one who has overcome death – Jesus Christ! Our Lord suffered death on the cross for our sins, was buried, and rose again the third day. In victory He declares “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die” (John 11:25-26). And what he said to Martha, he says to each of us today, “Believest thou this?”

Giving Thanks to God

This week we want to consider the important exercise of giving thanks to God.  I’m sure that none of us would think of ourselves as unthankful, but, really, when was the last time you bowed in prayer and thanked God specifically for something of his unfailing care and provision.  If all we can conjure up is a culturally correct prayer at mealtime, then we have grounds for earnest reflection. 

Often times, we do not offer thanksgiving because we do not “feel” thankful.  But thanksgiving does not flow out of a feeling, but rather finds its origin in a conscious recognition of benefit derived and enjoyed.  Take time to read that sentence again.  The Scriptures remind us that the LORD “daily loadeth us with benefits” (Psalm 68:19).  The words “daily” and “loadeth” are inescapably convicting and remind us of God’s unrelenting goodness and our own spiritual dullness. 

Surely, God is good, unceasingly good, and ever only good!  Our failure to note and observe his goodness is just that – our failure!  We must take note of his goodness.  David was so convinced of the importance of thanksgiving as a necessary element of worship that “he appointed certain of the Levites to minister before the ark of the LORD, and to record, and to thank and praise the LORD God of Israel” (I Chronicles 16:4).  Thanksgiving was an essential part of their liturgy.  It must be ours as well.

Is there something however small or seemingly inconsequential that refreshed your soul and brought joy to your heart?  Of a truth, it came from God.  The Scriptures declare that “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights” (James 1:17).  Perhaps, a cool breeze on a hot afternoon, a good night’s rest, or the communion of a good friend – the list is limited only by our own lack of wonder. 

We would do well to take note of his goodness and give thanks.  As the Psalmist related, “Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!  And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing” (Psalm 107:21-22).

Conversely, Paul taught Timothy that an “unthankful” heart (among other things) would characterize those living in the last days making those days indeed “perilous times” (2 Timothy 3:1-2).  We are not surprised.  An unthankful heart is symptomatic of those who have chosen to live unto themselves declaring they have no need of God.  How foolish!  How proud!  How self-deceived!

Let us not be deceived.  God is unfailingly good because it is his nature.  He cannot be otherwise.  This goodness that flows unhindered and unceasing from his nature purposefully leads us to repentance (Romans 2:4).  This is another one of God’s good gifts, that we might know him who is the giver of life itself.  Are you thankful? 

Love Necessarily Involves Others

Paul has been providing some inspired insights to the true nature of love in action in his first epistle to the Corinthians. We arrive at “love…bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” (I Corinthians 13:7). To truly comprehend his teaching here we must remind ourselves that love is always viewed in the context of relationship to others. Consequently, each one of these behavioral patterns that Paul commends is understood best in how it operates toward others. (I use “patterns” to emphasize that this love is not some isolated occurrence but a deliberate practice that we choose to follow consistently in our relationships.)

Love bears all things for the sake of others. To bear simply means to carry. One thing that love does is that it helps carry burdens. Paul wrote “Bear ye one another’s burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2). While we are called upon to carry our own burdens as a general rule, some burdens in life are too great to bear alone. (These kind of burdens cross each of our paths.) A financial crisis, the care of aging parents, the loss of a loved one are all burdens that each of us will likely be required to bear in our lives. Love helps carry those burdens. Sometimes with a card, sometimes with a meal, sometimes a gift of cash, caring for children to provide relief, and even mowing the grass or some other job that just needs done. (After back surgery years ago I was bedridden as you might imagine. A friend called me and “out of the blue” told me he was on his way over to mow my grass. I literally wept.) And while all these are tangible ways of helping bear a burden, we must never forget praying for one another.

Life is hard and full of hard things. Love cares and helps carry the load. Love as it shows itself in this context has one indispensable quality. It is willing to endure inconvenience. Helping to bear the burdens of another will require investment on my part. Human nature being what it is does not readily invite being inconvenienced. To love someone in this way requires an interruption to my schedule, the surrendering of my time, the yielding of my resources. That is what makes true love so necessarily divine. Many can make a one-time excursion in this arena, but to make it a pattern of life requires the grace of God!

At the very heart of this kind of love is an unselfishness that actually enters into the other person’s hardship or difficulty. It is the kind of love that Christ showed when he left heaven and inconvenienced himself to come to earth as a man that he might suffer for our sins on the cross. He saw us each in our lost estate, helpless and hell-bound, and in love died in our place at Calvary. He bore the burden of our sins, each and every one of them, before the judgment bar of heaven and redeemed us with his blood. Love bears all things!

We do not need to bear our own sin burden. Christ has borne it all. Give it to him and know the blessing and joy of his love.

The Day of Death

Solomon wrote “A good name is better than precious ointment; and the day of death than the day of one’s birth” (Ecclesiastes 7:1).  What an odd pairing it might seem at first glance of these two statements.  Yet the author has a clear truth he intends on communicating if we take the time to reflect on his assertion in the context he gives.  He follows up this statement with “It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to heart” (Ecc. 7:2). 

A good name speaks of reputation earned by the consistent pursuit of that which is wholesome, good, and virtuous.  Precious ointment was indicative of affluence or wealth in his culture.  Simply speaking, Solomon declares that character is more important than wealth.  But the opportunity to cultivate a good name is limited to this life for it is only at death that a good name is no longer at risk. 

We all know how easily a reputation is tarnished by some momentary indiscretion.  Solomon wrote “Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savor; so does a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honor” (Ecc. 10:1).  Recognizing the brevity of life and the certainty of death, Solomon is challenging his audience to number their days and with deliberation choose those paths that make for a good name.  This we learn by going to the house of mourning. 

When we go to the funeral of a friend or family member, we are confronted with death’s certainty and a wise man will learn from that experience.  We see the frailty of life and sense our own mortality.  It is a teachable moment as Solomon calls it.  We are confronted with the opportunity to weigh our own pursuits in the context of eternity and note their worth. 

Are we following after the things that make for a good name?  Do we value character over wealth and material gain?  For the Christian, the choice is simple.  But the pursuit is hard!  Yet, by the grace of God and with the light of his word to guide us, we can craft lives that are pleasing in his sight.  We can make choices that impact eternity in our otherwise brief and transient walk here on earth.   

                                    This one life will soon be past;

                                    Only what’s done for Christ will last!

The Next World

The Scriptures tell us that after Christ was raised from the dead that the Father “set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come” (Ephesians 1:20-21; emphasis added).  It is fascinating, engaging, and somewhat overwhelming to take note of the truth that there is another world yet to come!  We have only a brief exposure to it in the word of God, but there is enough there to convince us of its reality and a beauty that far surpasses our meager understanding or imagination.

One would expect it to be beyond our comprehension, and rightly so, because God himself dwells there (Revelation 21:3).  It will be characterized by righteousness because the Lord reigns there (Zechariah 14:9).  It will be a place of unsurpassable glory because God is all-glorious (Revelation 5:13).  It is a world that we aspire unto though we have not seen it. It is a place that our hearts long for because Christ himself is there and where Christ is there is righteousness, peace and joy unspeakable.  This sounds almost too good to be true were it not for the promise of Christ himself.  “I go to prepare a place for you and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself that where I am, there ye may be also” (John 14:2-3).  Yes, friend, there is another world to come.  It is real; it is unimaginably joyful; and, it is forever!

We could spend more time filling in some gaps in our expectations about this world to come from what has been revealed to us in God’s word.  But the point of this writing it this – there is a whole new world coming after this one has expended its strength and vigor on wickedness.  Christ is coming again and when he does there will be peace and righteousness (Micah 4:3-4).  Truth and holiness will be the key characteristics of this new world order.  Note the contrast to this present world.

Our world is full of lies, unbridled wickedness (or so it seems), selfishness, hatred and every form of impurity the mind can conjure.  Would anyone debate that?  Do we really need convinced of man’s intrinsic wickedness and rebellion against God?  But when Christ comes he shall put down every resistance, silence every foe, root out and vanquish all wickedness (Revelation 19:11-21).  The inauguration of his kingdom shall be glorious indeed! Even so, not everyone will enjoy the benefits of this coming world.  It is a prepared place for a prepared people.  Only those who have washed their sins in the blood of the Lamb and are dressed in his righteousness will be able to participate.  The Apostle John tells us that “there shall in no wise enter into it anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie; but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life” (Revelation 21:27).  Is your name there?

Vanity of Vanities

Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes, “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity” (Ecc. 1:3).  He wrote this from the vantage point of what he called “under the sun,” reflecting on his pursuits and relating their summation to his audience.  His pursuits, as king in Jerusalem, were limited only by his imagination.  He used his position and vast wealth to pursue whatever his heart desired, whether it was building great cities, enjoying the pleasures that life offered, or even exploring the benefits of wisdom and knowledge.  His conclusion – life’s pursuits as lived out under the sun offer no substantive value or gain.  Rather, they are fleeting and unsatisfying.

One important key to understanding the message of this inspired book is that phrase “under the sun.” The Preacher (as Solomon calls himself) sees life as the natural man sees life, i.e. human existence without the presence and overriding influence of God.  Man is born; he lives and pursues life in an unchanging and impersonal world; he strives for those things he believes will bring endurance and satisfaction; then he dies.  There is “nothing new under the sun.”  These fundamental features of life have been the same since man’s fall in the Garden of Eden. Some have more and some have less, but all die.

Life’s pursuits and achievements without God are indeed vain.  They are empty, elusive, unsatisfying and require unrelenting, tireless, repetitive labor.  These labors are for our own benefits and comforts.  Yet those benefits and comforts do not last.  We work for our food, clothing, and housing.  But food needs replenished, clothing wears out, houses need maintenance and repairs.  We hope for small vacations, escapes from the routine of our labors.  But they are just that – small.  We work hard so we can send our children to college that they might carry out these pursuits of their own, but on a grander scale.  And all the while this path is peppered with sickness, disappointments, griefs, and a myriad of other frustrations.

When sin entered the world, it brought chaos, confusion, difficulty, hardship, and consequent suffering.  Sin brings darkness for light, disorder for order, falsehood for truth, and ultimately death for life.  Truly, from this vantage point, there is nothing new under the sun.  But Christ has broken that paradigm.  He brings hope for despair, peace for anxiety, strength for trouble, and life for death – for where sin abounds grace much more abounds (Romans 5:20).  Christ brings a new covenant by which a man or woman can experience the new birth and become a new creation.  In so doing, we rise above the confines of life “under the sun” as the Preacher related to a life under the Son as Christ has promised.  He brings meaning to a life otherwise characterized as “vanity of vanities.”